If a truck sits on the lot at the dealership for over 3 months do they change the oil?? I ask this because the dealership informed me I'm due for my first oil change, I told them I only had 1100miles on the truck...I was told you should change the oil every 3 months regardless...so do they follow that same advice??

R/
Craig

 

I'll go way out on a limb and bet this one falls into the "do as we say, not as we do" category.

 

I guarantee you that they do not change the oil on their lot trucks!

Depending on your type of driving, you may or may not need to change your oil at the 3-month interval they recommend. The only scenario I could see where I would change it at 3-months (regardless of mileage) would be a guy who drives 3 miles to work in the morning, and 3 miles back home in the evening, and that is it. It such a circumstance, the oil would never reach operating temperature and burn off the moisture that builds up inside an engine. Repeated short trips like this are hard on oil and would predicate a more aggressive oil change regimen.

For most folks, however, a simple 3000 - 5000 mile oil change interval should be more than sufficient to ensure long engine life.

 

They just want to remind you to due the oil change incase you forget. They are persistant about it though, accourding to there records I already need a 21k oil change and a 24k oil change and I haven't even got to 20k yet. My last change was at 18k. At least they remind me.

 

No, they don't change oil in those sittin' vehicles. I've been using synthetic oil, xmission, and rear end fluids since 1998 and I change my oil at 1 year or 25K miles (whichever comes first). I won't advertise the brand, but it's the best and starts with an "A". My mileage increased 3mpg on my Ford truck when I switched over from petroleum at 5000 miles. Cool, huh?

 

Good point, but all you have to do, is make a 20 or 30 minute trip, to warm the oil up. It will evaporate any water that might be in the system.... That would dry your oil out, and you could stick with the 5,000 mile interval.

 

I seriously doubt they ever change the oil of the vehicles sitting on the lot. Oil, even if seldom used, is not going to go bad sitting in the pan for a year or more. I think people worry a little too much about this. I'd be more worried about how long the gas was in the tank, especially if buying a new vehicle that's been on the lot for over a year.

Funning thing I noticed. When buying a new Ford, I've never had a dealer change the oil when they prep it. Whenever I buy a new Jeep vehicle, even if it had 0 miles across the board when I test drove it, they always change the oil before handing it over.

 

I worked for ford, they don't change the oil in anything. If its used, they'll change it so it looks good for resale, but other than that it keeps what it has.

As for this
Even that crappy company you don't mention with "A" wouldn't be asinine enough to make that claim. If you could get 3 MPG from a simple fluid, there wouldn't be a manufacturer out there that wasn't using it to make their vehicles look better to the EPA standards. You may get .03MPG from such, but you'd be lucky for that. Never ceases to amaze me that people fall for that bullchit marketing campaign. Jet engineers my azz

 

YOU ARE DA MAN!!!!!!!!! It's amazing how people will believe anything! Even if they know it isn't true. Ford started recommending 5W20 because it showed a MINESCULE improvement in gas mileage. Wouldn't they recommend a fluid that gave a small mpg increase, such as "high performance" diff oil, or tranny fluid????

 

I think the only difference the 5w/20 makes on mileage is at startup. My oil temp can take up to 4 or 5 miles longer to get up to temp than the water temp. I use syn because it is so hot here, and I want the extra protection. Don't think it does much for mileage.

Just my observations.

 

They don't change the oil until they sell it. Changing oil is a part of the make-ready process. Otherwise, it's silly to think that you would change the oil on a car that sits 99.9 percent of the time waiting for a happy owner.

 

Thanks Craig, I got a big laugh out of that and I really needed it.

It's the kinda thing I would think of, I just ain't got the stones to post it on here.